We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Ashley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

It’s been just over a decade since I’ve been pursuing my art and making an income as a full time creative.

I graduated from Fredonia State University in Western, NY and moved to Rochester, NY with the intention to begin my adult life and to pursue a teaching career in Fine Arts. My first year of living in Rochester was difficult. I was raised 7.5 hours away from Rochester in Long Island, NY, and was experiencing difficulty adjusting to my new life. I felt lost and without purpose, and was wasting my days away waitressing and working at a tanning salon.

Attending open mics became my gateway to my community, and changed everything for me. Suddenly I was making friends, I felt encouraged and supported, and I was surrounded with talented people that inspired me to want to work harder at becoming a better musician. As I was new to town and our scene, I knew it was detrimental to network and to put myself out on the scene as often as possible in order to begin somewhere. I had no fanbase and knew no one but the handful of people that my boyfriend at the time brought into my life. My determination to perform and to write music was strong and is ultimately what turned me into a business woman. I realized in order to get anywhere and to check any goals, that I’d have to be strategic in my pursuit, and that I’d have to educate myself on branding and marketing in order to fill my calendar with shows, and to gain enough interest in having people want to attend and sit through them.

After my first band dissolved, I decided to keep moving forward and to pursue playing solo as a means to build my repertoire, and to do a little musical soul searching. With such broad musical influences, I frequently found myself to be very conflicted with conforming to one genre. On the side, I began organizing local events that connected me to the creative scene of Rochester under the name “Local Visionaries.” Each event featured original musicians, fine artists and poets. Event planning was a great opportunity to open more creative outlets to our community, and a way to surround myself with creative inspiration. It was also a fantastic way for me to gain more exposure and to network with an audience that embraced and supported creativity.

It’s often said that you can’t make a living as creative, and I really wanted to prove that theory wrong, because my hunger and determination to make a life as an artist ran deep. I’ve remained fearless in my pursuit; I continue to take on many risks, have become an expert at google, and have scraped up my knees and palms over a few major bumps down each road I’ve explored. Ultimately, with everything I’ve done and am continuing to do, I’ve learned to capitalize my strengths, using my various skills to the best of my ability, and by creating opportunities for myself and my community. Maintaining the mindset that there will always remain room to improve, learn and grow is what continues to fuel my passion, and is what motivates me to better myself and my work daily.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began making my local footprint by hosting events and open mics and performing two to six nights per week at local bars, restaurants, festivals, private parties, and virtually every other type of scenario you could imagine.

With my band, we recorded two albums, and I’ve recorded some singles and a record as a solo artist. I began DIY touring about eight years ago and became somewhat of a musical vagabond; traveling up and down the state of New York, to making several rounds South, and all the way to San Francisco Bay. Traveling and connecting with audiences outside of my city is what has long fueled my inspiration and is what has taught me almost all that I know about myself to this day.
I began slowing down with traveling shortly after giving birth to my little boy five years ago and began concentrating more on teaching and performing back in New York. Our covid shut down led me to pivot, and to create a new avenue of creativity, which thus birthed “Afternoon Cocktail Talk Show.”

Afternoon Cocktail became established as a wellness-based podcast that warranted perspective from both the creative and entrepreneurial lens on topics and emotions that were relevant, current and humane. We closed out our last season with our 109th episode, and almost 200 spotlight interviews featuring educated, uplifting and inspirational conversations from National/International touring/recording Singer-songwriters, featured local and international Non-for-profit organizations, and Business professionals.
Creating this podcast was a gateway to getting myself mentally back on track. It helped me to expand my network during a time in which we were all very disconnected, and it helped me to declutter, establish some clarity and to find peace within.

My regular performances began to pick up again once we were no longer locked down, and so did my private teaching schedule. When the job posting for Girls Rock Rochester was listed, I followed my intuition to apply. Girls Rock Rochester is a 501 C Non-for-profit (www.girlsrockrochester.org) with the focus of using music as a vehicle for empowerment, personal growth and positive social change in girls and LGBTQ+ youth, ages 5-17, Ten years prior to taking on the position as the organization’s new program director, I had volunteered as a workshop leader and instrument instructor. I am soo touched and proud of the work that we do in our community, and the opportunity to take on leadership and in carrying out our mission to make music more accessible for our youth is something I am very passionate about.

We provide our youth with the resources and mentorship they need in order to learn how to write, perform, play an instrument, and experience what it’s like to work in a band setting. Our workshops reflect social justice, confidence building, and how to be self sustainable and DIY in the world of music in its current state. I feel that it’s an incredible privilege to be in a position which I can use my experience and knowledge in the field to help guide our youth and to provide them with the types of opportunities that’ll lift, encourage, motivate, and give them the confidence to explore other areas of the music feel which Women and LGBTQ+ are underrepresented.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being creative is that I get to focus solely on the thing that makes me shine, outward and in. The connection that music and art has brought to my life is very spiritual and sacred to me.

I am grateful for the families that I work with, the students that I mentor, the mentors in my life, and the places and experiences my music and art has brought me to and continues to bring me to. All of it keeps me connected and grounded with greater purpose; and I am forever learning, expanding, and exploring how limitless my potential is because of it.

From moment to moment, I live out each of my days with compassion and creativity, and for that I am proud. My various creative endeavors help me to exercise my strengths, embrace connection, challenge my growth, and keep me at home with my authentic self. Each day is a new growing opportunity, and I am grateful for all the people who choose to work with me, and who invest their time, trust, and money in carrying forward my creative vision.

My creativity allows me to dive deeper into who I am, grants me the permission to explore life in a way that is most fulfilling. Having the ability to create something and put something forth that can positively impact the lives of the people around me is a true blessing. Each of my artistic endeavors are designed with the intention to personally grow, and to create and project positive influence to my community and beyond.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is for my life’s work to leave a lasting, impactful, impression on the lives and communities that my art touches. I trust that my gifts, heart, drive, knowledge and intuition will continue to lead me down a purposeful path.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amandaashleymusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/aashleymusic
• Facebook: facebook.com/aashleymusic
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/aashleymusic
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/aashleymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AmandaAshleymusic
• Other: www.reverbnation.com/amandaashleymusic

Image Credits
Adam Eaton, https://adameaton.com/ (Fur/glamour shots) Daniel Delucenay, https://www.facebook.com/DeLucenayPhotography/ (Live photos)